Dermatology Research

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The research mission of our faculty is to elucidate the molecular and cellular basis of diseases affecting the skin and to apply this new knowledge to prevention, diagnosis, and cure of these diseases. Research activities include molecular biology and immunology of the skin, epidemiology, genetic determinants of skin diseases including melanoma and other skin cancers, and development of approaches to gene therapy in the skin.

The
scope of skin disease related research at the University of Colorado is
embodied in the UniversityofColoradoAnschutzMedicalCenter
SkinDiseasesResearchCenter(UCAMC-SDRC).This
NIAMS-fundedcenterfocuses on organizing and supporting research tobetter
understand the molecularbasisofhumanautoimmune,inflammatory,developmental,metabolic,andgenetic skin diseases. The broad goal ofthisSDRCis to help memberinvestigatorsdevelop modelsofhuman skin
diseasesas researchplatforms to
study
molecularmechanisms ofdisease. This provides us with the
opportunity todevelopinnovativemolecular approaches tocorrectdiseaseprocesses and explore new treatment
approaches. Thiscenterincludes56investigators,22fromwithintheDepartmentofDermatologyand34fromother UCAMCDepartments or outside
collaborators.Theresearch interestsoftheseinvestigatorsarebroad:inflammationandimmunity;epithelial biology;melanocytebiology; regenerative
medicine and stemcell biology;molecular,cellular,and developmental biology;biochemistry; pharmacology;microbiologyandvirology;geneticsandgenomics;tissuerepair;cutaneouscarcinogenesis; andclinical research.
Thisisarichplatformforinterdisciplinary discovery inbasicandtranslationalresearch.Thiscenterisbuilton
thestrongfoundationofthreecollaborativeresearchteamswithinthe CU Anschutz Medical Campus,all
headedby scientistswithanestablishedrecord
ofNIAMS-fundedresearch:TheDepartmentofDermatology (Dr.DavidNorris,Chairman), theCenter forRegenerativeMedicineandStemCellBiology
(Dr.DennisRoop,
Director)andtheHumanMedical GeneticsProgram (Dr. RichardSpritz,
Director). There are also strong collaborations with
other centers on the AMC, especially the NCI-funded University of Colorado
Comprehensive Cancer Center​.​